TEENAGER ARRESTED AFTER DOG SWUNG

A teenager has been arrested after an internet video appeared to show a dog being swung dangerously by its lead.

The 19-year old suspect from Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire has been held on suspicion of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal, police said.

The footage posted on Facebook appeared to show four men walking the Chihuahua along a pavement in Stevenage, when one of the men is then seen to repeatedly thrust the animal into the air.

In the video another man is thought to be carrying a pack of lager while a third member of the group walks another dog on a lead.

The incident happened at around 6pm on Thursday in Julians Road near to its junction with Fairview Road.

The dog was not injured and was returned to its female owner later that evening, police said.

The men had been allowed to take the dog for a walk but the owner was not aware of what happened until the video was posted on Facebook, the force added.

Pc Lindsey Cox, from the Stevenage Safer Neighbourhood Team, said: "No animal deserves to be treated in this way and we are taking this matter extremely seriously.

"This is being treated at this stage as an incident of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal."

An RSPCA spokesman said: "The RSPCA is very concerned about this footage of someone swinging a Chihuahua around on a lead. This would likely have caused the animal great distress as well as potentially serious injury."